Iran’s Nuclear Program (video, 4:29)
Compiled by Aidan New
Iran’s development of a nuclear weapons program began in the late 1990s, accelerate in the early 2000s, and has remained a focal point for regional tension and international sanctions. It is a prime concern for Israel and the United States. Israel is believed to have made covert efforts to hinder Iran’s progress because an Iranian nuclear weapon would pose an existential threat to Israel and could have global repercussions.
Iran Inches Ever Closer to a Nuclear Weapon
The Iranian regime has made significant progress toward developing a nuclear weapon, though officially it maintains a fatwa, or religious ruling, against nuclear arms. Iran appears to have the capability but not yet the desire to cross the nuclear threshold.
- Explanation of a fatwa: https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/fatw-257
Iran’s Progress in Enriching Uranium Makes Its Intentions Clear
Numerous groups, including the International Atomic Energy Agency, have raised alarm over Iran’s enrichment of uranium to weapons-grade levels. Iran may have already reached the status of a nuclear threshold state, meaning it might have the capability to produce a nuclear weapon within weeks or even days.
- Iranian nuclear enrichment: https://apnews.com/article/iaea-iran-nuclear-enrichment-stockpile-2190f0d7247a6160fb13f28304d4b6ad
- Iran weapons timetable: https://www.iranwatch.org/our-publications/articles-reports/irans-nuclear-timetable-weapon-potential
Iran Fears the U.S. Response
Iran’s primary concern regarding its nuclear program is an American or Israeli strike that destroys or significantly hampers its progress. Iran’s aggression in the Middle East in part aims to deter American or Israeli action against the nuclear program.
2015 Iran Deal Has Not Halted Nuclear Progress
The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), commonly known as the Iran deal, was signed in 2015 by Iran, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Russia, Germany and China. Iran agreed to limit its nuclear program, which it maintains is about domestic energy production, and to allow more international inspections of its facilities in exchange for the lifting of sanctions worth billions of dollars. However, at least since President Donald Trump pulled the United States out of the deal in 2018, Iran has continued its uranium enrichment.
- The Iran deal: https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/what-iran-nuclear-deal
- Netanyahu address to Congress against the JCPOA: https://israeled.org/resources/documents/israeli-prime-minister-benjamin-netanyahus-address-to-the-us-congress
Conclusion
Iran’s nuclear program poses a significant threat to Israeli and American interests as Iran ramps up its extremist rhetoric while continuing to enrich uranium to weapons grade. Iran’s fear of American or Israeli action remains a deterrent to Iran’s jump to nuclear weapons, but that nuclear program presents an existential threat to Israel and has wide-reaching implications across the Middle East and beyond.